Photography

I tagged this photograph with “lichen,” but I’m not really certain that the white marks on the large rock are lichens. What else could they be? Fossils in the stone?

Later in the Day

Scientist-husband David suggests “mineralized inclusions in the rock. Could be of biological or abiotic origin from what little I can see.”

Evening Update

We now have two more opinions favoring the lichen theory: One is from my husband’s colleague in the Oberlin College Department of Biology, and one is from Art Murphy, who usually knows a fossil when he sees one. (See Art and Fossils.)

August 9 was David’s and my wedding anniversary. It says a lot about us to tell what we did to celebrate. We took a drive in the country. David wanted to buy some peaches at a farm stand, and I packed my camera just in case I couldn’t pass something up. When we ran low on gas, I pulled into a logo-less gas station in a very small town whose name I can’t remember. Right away, David saw something I didn’t. “Across the street—isn’t that something you’d like to photograph?” Right he was. It turned out to be ruins of an old grain elevator. Over the next few days, I’ll show you some of its details. And the peaches? We found them, and they were delicious.

Kendal at Oberlin publishes a literary magazine, called Eureka!, three times a year. All the artwork and writing is by residents of this retirement community. I’m lucky enough to live at Kendal at Oberlin, and to have had an article with photographs published in the latest issue. The piece reveals the origins of my fascination with the iron bacteria. Since many of you have seen on this blog my photographs of the iridescent film that Leptothrix discophora creates on the surface of water, I thought some of you might be interested in reading about how my engagement started. Just click on the link below to find out. And please forgive my crude post-production edit on the next to the last page. I thought it made the story easier to understand. Below the link to the article is a photo of Leptothrix discophora film that I took last month at Schoepfle Garden.

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The first stop I made while wandering northern Ohio Sunday was by these woods. I was drawn to several things here: the colors, the light, some specific trees, remnants of a fence, and the goldenrod. The goldenrod seedheads that I photographed on Wildflower Hill a while ago were silver; these were coppery gold.